Tips for Using Multiple Monitors with Your Mobile PC
Published: February 16, 2005
By Armelle O'Neal
Have you ever watched one of your colleagues or friends move items from one monitor to another or stretch their display across two screens on their desk? If you routinely work with several windows open at any given time, you might be wondering what it would take to use multiple monitors to improve your productivity when using your mobile PC both away from and at your desk.
In this article, I'll explain how you can increase your screen workspace when using your mobile PC at your desk. I'll also explain how you can use an additional display, such as a projector screen, to share information with others while you're at a meeting or doing a presentation.
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Using multiple monitors away from your desk
If you take your mobile PC to meetings, you've probably used it to display documents, such as agendas, or even to give presentations. The most common way to give a presentation is to connect your mobile PC to a projector by using a VGA cable.
Mirrored mode and Extended Desktop mode
You can use one of two modes to project your desktop on a projector screen:
| • | Mirrored mode: In this mode, your desktop (or screen) is duplicated on the projector screen, so your audience sees what's on your screen. For example, use Mirrored mode if you're recording ideas as people mention them during a brainstorming session and you want participants to see what's being recorded. The main downside of this mode is that instant message pop-ups, e-mail notifications, and other potentially annoying messages appear on the screen and interrupt the presentation. Also, if you browse for a file or switch between programs, your audience will see these actions on the projector screen, which may be disruptive or make your presentation appear unpolished. |
| • | Extended Desktop mode: In this mode, you extend your mobile PC screen space by using an additional display (whether a monitor or a projector screen). You can then use each screen independently. This mode is well suited for presentations because you can display the slides on one screen (usually the projector), and then hide notifications and other miscellaneous messages, and complete other tasks, such as taking notes, on your mobile PC screen. This mode is also very useful when you want to extend your workspace while using your mobile PC at your desk. |
Project a presentation in Mirrored mode
The steps that you follow to use Mirrored mode and display your mobile PC desktop on a projector depend on the hardware and software settings that are defined by the computer manufacturer. To project your mobile PC screen in Mirrored mode, you will need to either click an icon in the notification area in the bottom right of the screen or pressing a function key combination (usually FUNCTION+F5 or FUNCTION+F8).
Using multiple monitors at your desk
Mobile PCs are great productivity tools and excellent entertainment devices, but they are not ideal for extended use. Most mobile PC screens are too small to read text comfortably for an extended period of time, and many mobile PCs also lack a full-size keyboard or a mouse, which can aggravate your hands if you use them all day.
You can address these shortcomings by using Extended Desktop to use both your mobile PC screen and an external monitor to increase screen space.
Set up a second monitor
Before you perform the steps below, plug the secondary monitor into the external VGA port of your mobile PC and then place your mobile PC (the primary monitor) close to the secondary monitor to ensure swifter navigation between screens.
1. | Right-click the desktop of your mobile PC, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu. |
2. | In the Display Properties dialog box, on the Settings tab, click the blue rectangle with the number 2 (which represents the external monitor), and then select the Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor check box. |
3. | Under Screen resolution, drag the slider to the right to change the screen resolution of Monitor 2 to 1024 by 768 pixels, and then click OK.  You can change the screen resolution in the Display Properties dialog box. |
4. | When prompted, click Yes. Note: If your desktop background does not appear on the external monitor, click No, and then repeat step 3 to decrease the screen resolution. |
Adjust the position of the monitors
By default, Windows places the second screen to the right of the first (or primary) one. You can change the position of the monitors to reflect their physical position.
1. | Right-click the desktop of your mobile PC, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu. |
2. | In the Display Properties dialog box, on the Settings tab, drag the graphical representation of Monitor 2 (the blue box with the number 2 in it) to the left of Monitor 1, and then click OK. |
3. | When prompted, click Yes. |
Adjust your screen settings
When you first enable Extended Desktop mode, your taskbar and any icons on your desktop appear on the mobile PC screen; desktop space without icons appears on the external monitor. You may find it easier to show the taskbar on the external monitor since it is usually the larger of the two screens.
1. | On your mobile PC screen, right-click an empty area of the taskbar, and then click Lock the Taskbar. |
2. | Drag the taskbar to the external desktop and drop it where you want it to appear. |
You can now take advantage of the extra screen space by dragging program windows to the external monitor. You can also resize windows to stretch across the two screens.
By taking advantage of additional monitors, you can share information with others more effectively when you're giving a presentation and also improve your productivity by extending your workspace when you're using your mobile PC at your desk.
